Maryann Lesert lives and works in West Michigan, where she is an assistant professor of English at Grand Rapids Community College. During her undergraduate years, Lesert studied art, writing, and biomedical sciences, graduating in 1988 from Western Michigan University with a dual B.A. in art and English. In 2003 she earned her M.F.A. in Writing from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Base Ten

Compelling and fiercely honest, Base Ten exposes the daily battles of women scientists fighting to preserve a family life and succeed in a discipline that functions on the archaic belief that every scientist has a "wife" at home. Inspired by distinguished scientists Sandra Moore Faber and Vera Rubin, this striking novel vividly captures the struggles of women in science.

Reared to believe that she could do anything, astrophysicist Jillian Greer dreamed of going into space. When she and her research partner Kera Sullivan invented a specialized telescope, it looked as though these two dogged scientists would fulfill the dream they shared.

But ten years later, as Kera trains in a space simulator, Jillian is married and a mother, packing lunches and helping with her kids homework. As her fortieth birthday (the unofficial age limit of the space program) draws near, Jillian decides that things have to change. Leaving her family for ten days, one day for each year she has put her career on hold, she seeks solitude in the sand dunes of Lake Michigan, where she struggles to see if she can find her way back to the stars.

"Maryann Lesert portrays engaging characters, along with breathtaking recreations of the natural world, and a fascinating introduction to the world of astronomy.”

—Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife

"[Lesert's] writing is remarkable . . . a wonderful first novel. . . . Never have I dog-eared a novel as I have this one. . . . Recommend[ed] . . . to all who are finding their way through the maze of motherhood, marriage, love and dreams."